16 September, 2013

Connecting Your Content: 3 Steps to Maximize Exposure

Having a positive impact on the community is a beautiful thing, and my company thrives on building and nurturing local relationships. I realize regardless of what my company does on a national level, it all starts through a genuine connection with the surrounding neighborhoods.

But in order to ensure that we can continue to build strong communities, letting potential clients know about our volunteerism is essential.

The problem is that generating PR is a continuously evolving game, especially in the age of social media. You can’t throw a standard press release against the [Facebook] wall and expect fans to click. After all, your press release is up against funny cat videos and TED Talks.

Your best bet is to build a highway and lead your clients from Point A—social media—to Point B—the news content—to Point C—your product or service. That’s how you maximize your exposure, grow your business and connect with fans in a meaningful way.

Here are three steps to building the “highway” to social media success:

The Press Release. The goal is to get your clients to the news content. Write and submit your press release where you can, even if it’s only to the free PR sites. These free sites still get picked up by Google News, which increases your chances of getting picked up by a news site.

Build a Blog Bridge. Once the press release is in place, write a blog post about how another site or news organization is talking about you. Be sure to include a call-to-action for readers to book your service or purchase your product.

Plug In. Have something genuine, new and different to promote to your fans. Post a link to your blog post on Facebook and tweet it on Twitter.

Once your fans click the link, they’ll be guided from social media to the blog post on your website. They’ll see your accomplishment, and your call-to-action to book, buy or act in some other way.

The whole thing should be seamless, genuinely interesting and even entertaining because no one wants to be “content marketed” to. They want to read, learn and engage with subjects they actually care about.